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Kovacevic: Steelers disciplined? Come again?

Pittsburgh Steelers president and co-owner Art Rooney II stands on the sidelines before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec 23, 2012.

By Dejan Kovacevic
Published: Thursday, January 10, 2013

The Steelers absolutely did the right thing by swiftly dumping rookie running back Chris Rainey upon learning Thursday he was arrested in Gainesville, Fla., and charged with striking a woman police identified as his girlfriend during an argument.

The statement issued by Kevin Colbert spelled it out just right: “Chris Rainey‘s actions this morning were extremely disappointing. Under the circumstances and due to this conduct, Chris will no longer be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

Exactly. See ya.

Hooray for all involved in the decision.

But sorry, that‘s as far as I‘ll go. I‘m not about to stand, applaud or blow the vuvuzela for an organization that only the previous day denied — right from the top — that it‘s got broader issues with discipline.

Happen to catch that?

When Art Rooney II was asked Wednesday by the Trib‘s Alan Robinson about the perception of a lack of discipline with the Steelers and whether he had discussed that with Mike Tomlin, Rooney replied: “I didn‘t feel that way. I didn‘t look at the problem this year as being a lack of discipline.”

He then went on to talk about the Steelers‘ poor turnover ratio before coming back to the topic: “I really didn‘t see it as a team that lacked discipline. We‘re looking at everything.”

Really?

When Rooney, Colbert, Tomlin and the Steelers are “looking at everything,” it‘s fair to wonder if they‘re looking at:

• An average of 58.6 yards in penalties per game, ninth-worst in the NFL. That figure was 53.8 in 2011.

• The alarming portion of those that came before the snap. Or on special teams.

• The failure to ensure LaMarr Woodley would be in top shape, not least of which is on Woodley himself.

• The Chargers game. All of it.

• Antonio Brown‘s thought process. All of it.

• Mike Wallace admitting he often loses focus on the field and, far worse, demonstrating that in kind.

• Rashard Mendenhall blowing off work one memorable Sunday, then never having to explain it publicly other than to essentially laugh it off, then still getting back into the running back rotation.

Discipline, lest we forget, begins off the field.

And this is where I really have a hard time digesting that answer Rooney gave.

On Oct. 14, 2012, Alameda Ta‘amu, a nose tackle who was the Steelers‘ fourth-round draft pick last summer, was arrested on charges of leading Pittsburgh police on a chase through the South Side while driving drunk. He crashed into several parked cars, and multiple officers were needed to restrain him. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

The Steelers suspended him for two games without pay.

Two.

Ta‘amu is still awaiting a hearing, but that won‘t change that he got two lousy games from the team for a drunken joyride through a densely populated area.

Where was swift justice then?

The fourth-rounder gets a bye, but the fifth-rounder goes bye-bye?

Let‘s not pretend there isn‘t a problem.

For that matter, let‘s not pretend Rainey‘s alleged incident just fell from the sky. In September 2010, while at the University of Florida, he was arrested on a charge of aggravated stalking and misdemeanor stalking. The latter was for texting his girlfriend at the time, “Time to die.”

That‘s a pretty tough stigma to overcome, but it wasn‘t too tough for the Steelers, I guess. They drafted him last summer, risks and all.

Mike Adams, the big tackle taken in the same draft, came with risks, too. He fell to the second round because he‘d tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, of all places.

Now, I don‘t have a problem with this one, based on the passionate accounts of all concerned that Adams made a mistake. We all do, and his was wholly damaging to himself.

But the larger view still applies: These aren‘t gambles the Steelers used to take, at least not this often. And if they take enough of them, they‘re bound to get bitten.

The San Diego Union-Tribune‘s site has a thoroughly depressing but otherwise awesome “NFL Arrests Database,” where you can track dates, players and incidents by team or even by position.

I‘ll save you the trouble: The Bengals have had 38 since 2000, the Steelers 19.

So there‘s that.

Tomlin still talks the talk, and he does it as well as anyone, both with the media and with his men. But there‘s no question things aren‘t the same. Not with all of the above, plus far lesser but still telling stuff such as Maurkice Pouncey hawking T-shirts right after a Super Bowl loss, James Harrison feuding with Roger Goodell, Ryan Clark spouting off on Twitter ...

Let‘s hope the handling of Rainey, if not the assessment of Rooney, represents an acknowledgement of that.

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I don't know if this would be brought up if the Steelers had a winning season and in the playoffs. Everything the Steelers organization do will be scrutinized, as well as the players.
If Rainey was our best back, he would still be on the team, thats how the Steelers treat these situations. Their best players get more rope no matter what they are charged with because of the pressure to win. Rainey slapped his girl friend with an open hand and tackled her trying to retrieve his cell phone. Ta'Amu did far worse where a person was injured and several cars were damaged when he was in South Side drunk as a skunk, he could of got killed and police officers as well. What rainey did wasn't right, but the Steelers lack consistency dealing with matters like these, as I said, the good players and big names get more rope.

Rainey made a bad decision, but there is some talent there if he is used properly. My guess is another team may pick him up and give him another chance, if that does happen he better sieze the opportunity.

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At one point about midway through the season, we were leading the league in penalties. I was surprised to hear that we had improved to 9th by season's end. In regard to that improvement, it may have actually helped us that Colon (12 penalties) and Ike (8 penalties) missed the last part of the season with injuries.

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Originally Posted by BradshawsHairdresser

At one point about midway through the season, we were leading the league in penalties. I was surprised to hear that we had improved to 9th by season's end. In regard to that improvement, it may have actually helped us that Colon (12 penalties) and Ike (8 penalties) missed the last part of the season with injuries.

Penalties from DBs did not change after Ike was injured. Scoring went up, but penalties remained.

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Originally Posted by feltdizz

what does he need to defend?

His position that the Steelers are an overly undisciplined team in NFL landscape. The idea that the Steelers were some super disciplined team with high morals is a fairy tale. There have been incidents of questionable characters and actions long before Tomlin. There has been everything from Ernie Mills shooting at Police helicopters, Marvel Smiths two run ins with pot, Bettis getting BJ's at training camp from some chick he met at the local Latrobe bar, Joey Porter being suspended from a game right before it started for fist fighting two Browns on the field, etc, tic, etc....

sorry I misread the 9th worse in penalties thing but Cowher had heavily penalized teams as well.....

Dejan took notice of Mark Madden's success on the radio by trying to be the Howard Stern of Pittsburgh sports radio, and has tried to emulate that in his move to the Trib. Nothing but a pot stirrer.

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Agree, crap article.
He's just trying to stir things up for his newspaper. Joke really. If you are marginal and don't cost alot and have a couple strikes against you already legally, you are gone. We don't dump you on goof no.1, ala Taamu still here.
Holmes contract was ending and he was a twaat. So he was dumped. Big Ben, huge financial burden and high end football value, so they fought through things a bit with him, even after second allegation.
If you are marginal and easy to dump, you better stay straight or you will be replaced. Not a surprise. Most teams run this way. A few then collect these bums and try to piece them together. Look for a Bengal signing of Rainey in a week.